Litco International to Produce Premium Quality Engineered Wood Pallet Blocks in the United States
Company seeks feedback from pallet manufacturers
Litco International intends to begin manufacturing premium engineered wood pallet blocks in the United States later this year. The company will invest in an extrusion line to facilitate production of the new line, branded as Engineered Extruded Wood™ Blocks. It initially intends to extrude blocks sized at 3”x3” and 3.5”x3.5”.
Litco is reaching out to pallet companies to engage in a dialogue to better understand block size and volume needs. As a domestic producer, it will eliminate the time and cost associated with shipments from Europe. Among the sizes currently considered are 3 in. x 3 in. and 3.5 in. x 3.5 inch, in various lengths.
A point of performance differentiation from other composite wood blocks is the company intends to produce denser pallet blocks. The blocks will exceed 0.60 gram per cubic centimeter, a block density typically available from overseas sources. The higher density will reduce flaking, improve durability, and nail retention issues experienced with competing products.
Inquiries have been gradually growing over the last few years, according to Gary Sharon, executive vice president for Litco, He had been receiving calls about supplying pallet blocks. However, --- “production didn’t make sense in terms of price or volume to compression mold them in the same process, the process used to produce Litco’s industry-leading INCA Engineered Molded Wood™ pallets, and core plugs.
With more inquiries fielded in 2018, Sharon said that there is now enough interest to justify investment in an extrusion line for pallet blocks and potentially other extruded products. As the processing of fiber is the same for compression molding as it is for extruding, Litco already has all of the necessary equipment and buildings in place for that part of the operation. The only investment required is for the extruding lines, which Litco was preparing to order at the time of our interview in January. Completion of the project is anticipated in the 4th quarter of 2019.
Engineered wood blocks eliminate some issues associated with timber blocks, explained Page Clayton, Litco’s sales engineer, a graduate of Virginia Tech. “Wood has a different strength property in each direction," he said. "So being able to reorient the wood grain or wood fiber in a more consistent or uniform form allows us to create some of the improved strength characteristics and properties.
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